


The Wonderful World of Roleplay

by emiko_nya



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Slow Burn, i hate writing the html for these
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-02-23 03:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23005312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emiko_nya/pseuds/emiko_nya
Summary: Karkat agrees to do a bit of roleplay with Nepeta. Just this once.
Relationships: Aradia Megido/Feferi Peixes, Nepeta Leijon/Karkat Vantas, Vriska Serket/Terezi Pyrope
Comments: 5
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

Nepeta’s computer dinged next to her.  
She didn’t notice it at first, of course. She was asleep on the desk beside it. Having not had any chance to rest for a while, she jumped at the chance pretty soon after they absconded to the Veil. While the others had been either trolling the humans or having anxious conversations with the other trolls, she had just closed her eyes and drifted off.  
After a while, though, she woke. Nepeta stretched her arms up high and blinked a few times to rid herself of the slight feeling of sleepiness. She noticed that someone had placed a blanket over her while she was unconscious.  
Around the room were a couple of the others. Terezi was at her computer, in the process of licking the screen once again, and Nepeta could just about see John’s text on Vriska’s monitor.  
The catgirl looked back at her own machine and realised someone had been trolling her. She clicked on the message and was delighted to see that it was from Karkat. He’d sent it around twenty minutes ago.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

CG: HEY.

Nepeta eagerly typed a reply, hoping he was still there so that they could talk.

AC: :33 < *ac notices karcat and gr33ts him with a meow*

It took him a couple of minutes, but Karkat replied.

CG: …  
CG: YOU KNOW WHAT? I’LL TAKE PART IN THE ROLEPLAY. JUST THIS ONCE.  
AC: :33 < yaaayy!  
AC: :33 < oops i mean  
AC: :33 < *yaaayy! ac meows*  
CG: KARKAT ROLEPLAYS AS A TROLL TO SHOW THAT HE ISN’T TOO INVESTED.  
AC: :33 < *ac stares up at him and blinks a mew times*  
CG: KARKAT REACHES DOWN AND PETS AC.  
AC: :33 < remempurr to put it in * * marks, silly!  
CG: RIGHT. SORRY.  
CG: *KARKAT REACHES DOWN AND PETS AC*  
AC: :33 < *ac purrs, befur then looking back up at the troll and asking “what’s up?” in a cute way*  
CG: KARKAT WANTS TO KNOW HOW AC IS DOING, WHAT WITH THE RECENT EVENTS.  
CG: WAIT FUCK  
CG: *KARKAT WANTS TO KNOW HOW AC IS DOING, WHAT WITH THE RECENT EVENTS*  
AC: :33 < *ac raises a paw fur a mewment, considering*  
AC: :33 < *then she says “well as long as the others are safe, i’m happy!”  
CG: *”GOOD.” KARKAT SAYS*  
CG: *”I ONLY ASK BECAUSE TAVROS SAID THAT LEADERS ARE SUPPOSED TO… CARE ABOUT THE EMOTIONS OF THE PEOPLE THEY’RE LEADING? SOME SHIT LIKE THAT.” HE SHRUGS AS HE SAYS THIS*  
AC: :33 < youre getting better with the roleplay!! keep it up  
AC: *ac smiles and licks her paw*  
CG: OH FUCK  
CG: I NEED TO GO SORRY  
CG: ONE OF THE HUMANS SENT GAMZEE SOMETHING AND HE’S PISSED ABOUT IT.  
AC: :33 < ok bye!

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

Nepeta considered what could have made Gamzee so angry. Sure, his title was Bard of Rage, but he’d only shown his… “berserk mode” once, whilst fighting the Black King. She hoped Karkat could calm him down, otherwise the trolls could really be in danger. Especially with Gamzee having such a high blood colour…  
Nepeta decided not to disturb herself thinking of that, and instead switched over to another, much cuter train of thought.  
She wondered whether Karkat would want to roleplay with her again sometime. He’d been surprisingly good at it once he got going. Then again… he did say he was only going to do it once. So she guessed she’d just have to wait and see what happened.

\------------------

Karkat honestly wished he had been able to continue roleplaying with Nepeta further earlier. It had taken his mind off of other problems for at least a little while. Things like the tense state between the entire group, the threat of that Jack Noir-esque monster destroying everything in his sight… and more personal things too.  
But he was done dealing with Gamzee for now, and he’d attended to a couple of tasks that needed doing. He had some free time to talk to Nepeta again.  
After opening up the chat window, Karkat hesitated for a moment. After all, he’d said he was only going to RP with her once. If he changed that, he could be very easily regarded as weak. He knew he was, of course, but he just didn’t want anyone else to realise that.  
Nevertheless, he messaged her anyway. He sent her a normal message at first, then waited for her to respond. She did so pretty quickly.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

CG: HEY, NEPETA.  
AC: :33 < *ac mews happily when she s33s karcat has refurned*  
CG: …  
CG: OK I KNOW I SAID I WOULD ONLY DO THIS ONCE, BUT IT’S ACTUALLY KIND OF FUN, SO  
CG: *CG GREETS AC WITH A PAT ON THE HEAD*  
CG: HEY, QUICK SIDE NOTE  
CG: WHAT DOES ONE EVEN DO IN ROLEPLAY?  
CG: IT ALL SEEMS LIKE THE SAME THING SO FAR FROM MY VIEWPOINT.  
AC: :33 < well we could go do something interesting!  
CG: LIKE WHAT?  
AC: :33 < umm…  
AC: :33 < ooh, i know! we could get in a ship and sail across the sea!  
CG: UM  
CG: OK SURE THAT SOUNDS KIND OF EXCITING.  
CG: I GUESS.  
AC: :33 < oops hold on a second, someone’s trolling me!  
AC: :33 < back in a minute

We use this to conveniently transition smoothly back over to Nepeta’s perspective. Nicely done, Felicia. Pat on the back.  
Nepeta switched chat windows to where somebody else was requesting to talk to her. She realised with a slight sense of dread that it was Gamzee. Nonetheless, she responded, albeit more subdued than normal.

terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

TC: HeY hOwS iT mOtHeRfUcKiN gOiNg  
AC: :33 < um  
AC: :33 < i’m good!  
AC: :33 < what about you, i heard you got angry over something?  
TC: YeAh It WaS tHiS vIdEo  
TC: ThAt WaS aLl DoWnRiGhT mOtHeRfUcKiNg BlAsPhEmOuS bRoThEr  
TC: BuT mY bRoThEr KaRkAt HeLpEd Me AlL uP aNd MoThErFuCkInG gEt My CaLm On  
TC: So I’m CoMpLeTeLy MoThErFuCkIn ChIlL nOw  
AC: :33 < ok, that’s good then!  
TC: YeAh It Is  
TC: Ok, SeE yOu LaTeR  
AC: :33 < bye!

terminallyCapricious [TC] ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

Nepeta immediately closed down the conversation and switched back to Karkat. Excitedly, she typed out another message.

AC: :33 < im back!

His response came just as quickly:

CG: OH, GOOD.  
CG: SHALL WE, UM, START THEN?  
AC: :33 < yeah!  
AC: :33 < ok, here goes…

She focused and moved her hands in a mysterious way as she placed herself fully into character. Karkat did something similar on the other end, except a lot less dramatically.  
Then Nepeta began.


	2. Chapter 2

Once upon a time, there was an adventurer. A mysterious young troll who kept his blood hidden from the eyes of others. Few knew his real name —carcinoGeneticist— but all knew its abbreviation: CG. He would travel around the world with his loyal cat. This cat, too, had a name unknown by the public: arsenicCatnip. She was also called by two letters that represented her name. AC, of course.  
Today, the two were sailing across an ocean, in search of a treasure: a special amulet. CG stood at the front of the ship, looking out over the ocean with AC.  
"WE'LL BE NEARING OUR DESTINATION SOON," he said. "A SHAME. I ENJOY THESE TRIPS WITH YOU, JUST US AND THE SEA."  
AC purred in agreement, indicating that she felt the same way about him.  
"LUCKILY FOR US," CG continued, "THE MAP SAYS THE TEMPLE ISN'T FAR AWAY FROM OUR LANDING SPOT."  
":33 < wheres our landing spot?"  
"THE DOCKS ARE ON THE SHORE CLOSE TO THE BIG CITY."  
":33 < didnt you say were avoiding the big city?"  
"YES. I'VE MET A GROUP OF PEOPLE THERE WHO WANT THE AMULET, AND ITS POWER, TO THEMSELVES."  
":33 < whats so bad about them having the amewlet?"  
"NOTHING SO BAD IN ITSELF… BUT THEY TOLD ME WHAT THEY WANT TO USE IT FOR." CG took a deep breath. "THEY WANT TO USE IT TO FEED COUNTLESS INNOCENTS TO A MONSTER."  
":3O < thats horrible!"  
She readied herself into an upright position, then leaped up onto CG’s shoulder. He reached over and patted her on the head slowly.  
"I KNOW… BUT WE HAVE A GOOD HEAD START TO GET IT BEFORE THEM."  
":33 < thats good!"  
CG reached into his pocket and pulled out a small object, which he unfolded to reveal a map of the island to which they were arriving. He placed his finger on the docks. "WE'LL GET HERE PRETTY SOON. WE CAN STAY AT THE DOCKS A WHILE, BUT WE SHOULD BE GOING TO THE TEMPLE." He traces a path with his finger towards a spot in the fields with a building on it. "IT WON'T TAKE US LONG TO GET THERE, BUT WHEN WE ARRIVE, WE NEED TO BE READY TO FIGHT."

AC: :33 < did you have to include fighting?  
CG: YES.  
CG: OTHERWISE, WE DON'T REALLY HAVE TO WORK FOR THIS GOAL, DO WE?  
CG: PLUS MY SICKLE SKILLS ARE EVEN BETTER IN ROLEPLAY.  
AC: :33 < i guess that makes sense…

“:33 < got it!” the cat replied.  
The two of them looked out over the sea once more, taking in the sight of the glittering water reflecting the sunlight. The ship rocked gently, in a comforting way that made AC feel sleepy. But this was no time for naps! They needed to get off the ship and head towards the temple. They couldn’t allow those people to get the amulet before them.  
A few minutes later, she woke up, still on CG’s shoulder. She’d fallen asleep without even realising it! AC licked her paw a few times and gazed up at the structure before her.  
The ship had arrived at the docks. There was a pretty big building there, presumably a place for sailors to stay if there destination was a long way into the island. But she and CG weren’t stopping there. They had more important things to do.  
CG wobbled a bit as he stepped back onto stable land. He’d gotten used to the rocking of the ship, and it was slightly strange to be without it.

AC: :33 < oh, im going to need to pawse this fur a minute  
CG: WHY?  
AC: :33 < someone wants to talk to me  
CG: ABOUT WHAT?  
AC: :33 < im not sure but ill be back soon  
CG: ALRIGHT.

Nepeta once again switched conversations, this time to… Vriska trolling her. Uh oh.

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

AG: Hey Nepeta.  
AG: Nepeta.  
AG: Neeeeeeeepeta.  
AG: Come on, respond already.  
AC: :33 < hello!  
AG: Ah, there you are. Finally.  
AC: :33 < it only took me a mew seconds to respurrnd!  
AC: :33 < youre too impatient!  
AG: Anyway.  
AC: :33 < yes?  
AG: I happen to 8e 8ored as shit right now. Really 8ored. Like  
AC: :33 < so boooooooored?  
AG: So 8oooooooored.  
AG: Amazing guess, Nepeta!  
AC: :33 < why would you think i could help with that?  
AG: Weeeeeeeell, I noticed you’d been roleplaying with Karkat a bit.  
AC: :33 < you noticed?  
AC: :33 < dont mention it to him! hed get embarrassed  
AG: Relax, relax, I won’t.  
AG: I was going to ask if I could join.  
AC: :33 < hmm…  
AC: :33 < well, a furd character might not be that bad!  
AG: “Furd”?  
AC: :33 < third  
AC: :33 < but im not sure hed be happy if he discovered someone else mew about it…  
AC: :33 < ok! let me wait fur him to get used to it, then ill ask him if hes okay with you joining!  
AG: Alright, fiiiiiiiine.  
AG: Try not to keep me waiting too long though.  
AG: Like you said, I’m impatient, right?  
AG: ::::D

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

Vriska leaned back in her chair. Then she leaned a little more. Then her chair tumbled over, and she landed on the floor hard.  
“Motherfuck,” she muttered as she got up and dusted herself off. Nepeta and Terezi were looking at her. Vriska ignored them, put her chair upright, and sat down in it again.  
Across the room, Nepeta resumed her conversation with Karkat.

AC: :33 < im back!  
CG: WHO WAS TROLLING YOU?  
AC: :33 < ill tell you later! lets just keep roleplaying for now

After idling around at the docks for a while, it was time for CG and his loyal cat to continue their journey. The two bade farewell to a few people they'd made friends with, and started in their way towards the temple.  
":33 < so," AC said as she padded along beside him, "what does the amewlet look like?"  
"IT HAS A SMALL CHAIN THAT LETS IT HANG AROUND YOUR NECK, AND A CIRCLE IN THE CENTRE WITH A GEM IN IT. ON ONE SIDE IT'S GOLD, AND ON THE OTHER IT'S SILVER. THE AMULET ITSELF, I MEAN."  
":33 < whats the gem?"  
"NOBODY KNOWS, BUT IT'S THE MAIN THING THAT GIVES THE ITEM ITS POWERS. THE GOLD AND SILVER COMPLEMENT ITS MAGIC TO FOCUS IT MORE AND MAKE IT USABLE BY PEOPLE LIKE US."  
":33 < sounds cool!"  
"IT IS."  
":33 < how clawse are we to the temple?"  
"IT'S A FEW MINUTES AWAY."  
As he said this, AC focused her eyes and looked ahead of them. She could see a speck of white that must be the temple, getting slowly larger in her vision as the two approached.  
They chatted for a little while until they got there, enjoying each other's company. Eventually, though, they arrived at the destination, and looked up at the majestic building that towered over them.  
":33 < wow… this is bigger than i furst thought."  
"YEAH, IT'S HUGE."  
":33 < and this amewlet is all the way at the top?"  
"ACCORDING TO MY SOURCE, YES. AND MY SOURCE DOESN'T LIE."  
":33 < okay! this shouldnt be too diffurcult…"  
"SHALL WE ENTER, THEN?"  
":33 < let's go!!" AC leaped up onto CG's shoulder again as he entered the temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bad expΩsitiΩn fΩr the win


	3. Chapter 3

CG cursed himself for not getting any kind of light. It was very dim inside the temple.  
“HEY, AC,” he said. “YOU HAVE SOME KIND OF NIGHT VISION, RIGHT?”  
“:33 < yep!”  
“RIGHT. CAN YOU LEAD THE WAY, PLEASE?”  
“:33 < sure! just furllow me! ill stay clawse in furront!”  
She hopped down off his shoulder and walked in front of him.

AC: :33 < hey karkitty, ive been meowning to ask…   
CG: YEAH?   
AC: :33 < how would you f33l about having a furd roleplayer?   
CG: …”FURD”?   
AC: :33 < third   
CG: I MEAN...   
CG: MAYBE HAVING SOME OTHER CHARACTERS WOULD BE GOOD.  
CG: HELPS ADD A BIT MORE DETAIL AND COMPLEXITY TO THE WORLD, OR SOMETHING?  
CG: HUH.  
CG: I’VE BEEN TALKING WITH THE ROSE HUMAN TOO MUCH, THAT’S SOMETHING SHE WOULD SAY.  
CG: BUT WHO DO YOU HAVE IN MIND TO ADD?   
AC: :33 < well…  
AC: :33 < it’s the one who was trolling me purrlier!   
CG: WHO WAS THAT, THEN?   
AC: :33 < vwiskers!   
CG: WAIT. LET ME GET THIS STRAIGHT.  
CG: YOU WANT TO ADD.  
CG: VRISKA SERKET.  
CG: VRISKA FUCKING SERKET.  
CG: INTO OUR ROLEPLAY.   
AC: :33 < yep!   
CG: …   
AC: :33 < but this isnt live action! she cant do anyathing bad to us if its imaginyary!   
CG: WELL I MEAN  
CG: I SUPPOSE YOU’RE RIGHT  
CG: BUT SHE CAN HAVE HER CHARACTER DO BAD STUFF TO OURS!   
AC: :33 < you wanted to include fighting!   
CG: ...OH YEAH. I DID, DIDN’T I?  
CG: I GUESS WE CAN LET HER IN. BUT WE’RE KEEPING AN EYE ON HER.   
AC: :33 < ok! ill tell her…   
CG: WAIT, ONE MORE THING.  
CG: CAN YOU MAKE SURE THIS STAYS SECRET?  
CG: I DON’T WANT HER MENTIONING THIS ROLEPLAY THING TO THE OTHERS AND HAVING THEM LAUGH AT ME FOR IT.   
AC: :33 < okay!

The window of her conversation with Karkat was replaced by that of her and Vriska. She typed out a cheerful message.

arsenicCatnip [AC] began trolling arachnidsGrip [AG]

AC: :33 < good mews vwiskers!   
AG: Oh, hey Nepeta.  
AG: What is it?   
AC: :33 < karkitty says you can join!   
AG: Oh, good. You guys sure kept me w8ing.  
AG: Or may8e that’s just me 8eing too impatient again.   
AC: :33 < were making a group chat (chat like french fur cat hehe) fur us thr33 to roleplay in   
AG: Thanks. ::::)   
AC: :33 < oh, karkitty also requests fur you not to tell anyaone else about this or hed be empurrassed!   
AG: Why? What’s so em8arrassing a8out roleplaying?   
AC: :3? < i dont know… doesnt meowtter though! bye!

arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling arachnidsGrip [AG]

Vriska did not lean back in her chair this time. She had learnt from that mistake, at least.  
As she adamantly refused to move backwards, she contemplated what she wanted with this.  
It wasn't often she did roleplaying that wasn't live action. She didn't really see the point in doing it text-based. Then again, maybe that was just because LARPing was the only one that was useful to her. Whatever the reason, she decided to give this a shot anyway.

arsenicCatnip [AC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] and arachnidsGrip [AG]

AC: :33 < hi efurryone!   
CG: ALRIGHT.  
CG: VRISKA, YOU BETTER FUCKING MAKE SURE I DON’T REGRET THIS.   
AG: Relaaaaaaaax, Karkat. It’s just a 8it of fun! I don’t normally do text-8ased, you know.  
AG: Shall we 8egin? Or, um, continue, in your case?   
AC: :33 < alright! let me just fill you in on the story furst!

For the next twenty minutes, CG followed AC through the darkness of the temple. The silence felt like it was suffocating him, only the sound of the cat’s paws pattering quietly on the floor reminding him that something else was real. He could feel the pitch black all around him press down on his skin, as if he had unwisely enraged whatever eldritch creature controlled the darkness.  
However, time passed, as time is often known to do, and after navigating through the gloomy corridors of the first floor, CG finally glimpsed light. It blinded him for a moment before his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, but he could soon make out that there was a staircase before him, leading to a higher point of the temple.  
“WELL,” he said. “IT TOOK US A WHILE TO GET HERE.”  
“:33 < well um… i may have led us in circles a mew times.”  
“OH.”  
“:33 < not on purrpose!”  
“ALRIGHT. AT LEAST THE SECOND FLOOR LOOKS LIKE IT HAS LIGHT.” CG said as he emerged from the staircase.  
The young adventurer studied the room around him. It was a large chamber made of white marble. Pillars stood tall from the floor, stretching towards the ceiling far above. Huge windows were embedded into the walls, which were lined with bookshelves. Those shelves themselves were stocked completely with countless pages of whatever this temple’s old inhabitants felt were useful to them. CG stepped forward and took one out at random. It was a leather book, with a title on the front written in gold, in flowing, elegant handwriting. It had aged, though; he could feel a thick layer of dust that had settled on the tome over time. CG flicked to a random place, and ended up on page 612. It was some kind of blueprint. After scanning over it for a second, he realised it was for the room he and AC were standing in right now.  
“SEEMS TO BE AN EARLY VERSION, THOUGH…” he muttered. “MUST HAVE GONE THROUGH A LOT OF DESIGN CHANGES SINCE THEN. THIS LOOKS MUCH MORE GRAND THAN THE RESULT.”  
His vision was drawn to a particular part of the blueprint: the door. He glanced at the spot in the actual room where the exit should be, but there was nothing there. CG looked between the map and the real world a few times to double check, and he confirmed that no such door was visible. It was then that he spotted the note written near to the diagram in the book:

“Solve the trial to open the door!”

He groaned and rolled his eyes. Why did everything have to be part of some ridiculous “trial”? Would he ever be able to just grab a piece of treasure really easily for once?  
“:33 < whats the purroblem?” AC asked, padding over to him on her paws.  
“THERE’S A PUZZLE SOMEWHERE IN HERE WE NEED TO SOLVE. YET AGAIN.”  
“:33 < but were good at purrzles, arent we?”  
“WE’VE HAD A LOT MORE EXPERIENCE THAN MOST PEOPLE, BUT I CERTAINLY WOULDN’T SAY THAT MAKES US ‘GOOD’ IN ANY WAY.”  
“:33 < i suppawse thats fur enough, but—”  
Someone cleared their throat behind them.  
The two turned around to where the sound came from.  
There was a group of eight people standing there, having just walked up into the room from the staircase. They were mostly lowbloods, with the highest on the hemospectrum being a couple of olivebloods.  
“UH… HI?” CG said, unsure.  
The group looked at him and spoke at the same time. But instead of their typing quirks mingling together, they all spoke with a single one.  
“We have 8een sent to retrieve the amulet from this temple.” They said, in perfect synchronisation.  
AC studied them for a few seconds: their perfectly flat expressions, identical body language and posture… she figured it out quickly.  
“:3O < cg!” The cat meowed, surprised. “:3O theyre under mind control!”  
The realisation was evident on the adventurer’s face. “YOU’RE RIGHT... BUT WHO’S CONTROLLING THEM, THEN?” Then he shouts over at the group of eight.  
“HEY! WHO ARE YOU? THE ONE CONTROLLING THESE PEOPLE?”  
“That is none of your concern. Now, please leave this 8uilding. We have 8usiness to attend to, and you will not get in our way.”  
“LIKE HELL WE WON’T!”  
“Do you realise that she can just as easily control you two and force you to evacu8?”  
“MAYBE SHE CAN GET ME… BUT, UH, NOT MY CAT!”  
“All she needs to do is use a single psychic reacharound. We have a 8ronze8lood, and that’s all we need.”  
“YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH—”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> by the way, if there's ever anything yΩu guys need me tΩ add tΩ the cΩntent warnings/tags fΩr a fanfic, feel free tΩ cΩmment and let me knΩw!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the cΩlΩurs are malfunctiΩning fΩr sΩme reasΩn

CG woke up outside the temple. He was laying down in the soft grass, AC a few meters away from him.  
“DAMN IT…” he said, sitting up and looking at his cat. “SHE CONTROLLED US, DIDN’T SHE? WHOEVER ‘SHE’ IS.”  
“:3( < yeah…”  
“WE HAVE TO CHASE THEM! WE CAN’T LET THEM GET THE AMULET BEFORE US!”  
“:33 < but wont she just control our minds again?”  
“MAYBE, BUT WE HAVE TO TRY. COME ON!”  
He started sprinting into the temple, followed close behind by AC.

Meanwhile, the group of mentally controlled lowbloods began to advance through the temple. It took them a few minutes to solve the puzzle on the second floor, revealing the door to be behind one of the bookshelves. They spent around ninety seconds attempting to coordinate themselves to enter correctly, which was surprisingly difficult for them to do. However, they soon began ascending through the building at a brisk pace. It would be difficult for our heroes, CG and AC, to keep up.

AG: W8, hold on.  
CG: WHAT IS IT?  
AG: Something’s going on over there, let me see.  
AG: ...Seriously?  
CG: WHAT’S HAPPENING?  
AC: :33 < eridan and sollux are fighting again...  
CG: ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?  
CG: WE’RE BUSY RUNNING FROM A FUCKING DEMON, AND NOW MEMBERS OF OUR OWN TEAM ARE FIGHTING WITH EACH OTHER?  
CG: I’M COMING UP THERE.  
AG: 8etter hurry up then.

Karkat swore loudly and got up from his desk. They really couldn’t handle themselves for even three fucking hours without him to keep them in check, could they? Ridiculous. All he had wanted to do was have some peace and quiet while he roleplayed. He’d never mention that to them, though, since he was sure that would definitely make them lose their faith in him as a leader.  
He transportalised upwards and advanced quickly towards the main room. As he approached the entrance, he could hear the raised voices, and the distinct sound of Eridan’s “science wand” crackling with energy. Karkat hoped he hadn’t used that energy yet.  
He opened up the door and swept his gaze around the room, taking a second before he could locate the pair. He spotted them over by the horn pile, yelling loudly while Terezi, Feferi, Vriska, Kanaya, and Nepeta watched them warily.  
“ii 2hould have kiilled you on lobaf when ii had the chance!” Sollux yelled. He’d clearly just been in the horn pile with Feferi. Both of them had stood up in anger with whatever bullshit Eridan had been spouting. They weren’t attacking each other, so Karkat stood and watched them. He made sure he was close enough to intervene if they got physical, however.  
Sollux glared at Eridan, emitting blue and red sparks from his torso. “oh well, gue22 iit’2 only fiittiing ii’d take you down iin ROUND TWO!”  
The sparks went into overdrive, coursing across his body. “you ready, priince?”  
“bring it mage!” Eridan yelled back, equally as forceful.  
This was bad. As Eridan reached for his already charged up wand, Karkat ran towards the two of them, understandably angry as fuck.  
“STOP IT RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.” He commanded, bravely placing himself between them in an effort to stop them.  
“you better get out the wway kar if you dont wwanna get hurt!” Eridan yelled.  
“dont iinterrupt thii2, kk!” Sollux said.  
“IF BOTH OF YOU DON’T STOP, YOU’LL HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN EACH OTHER. WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO EVEN ARGUING ABOUT ANYWAYS?”  
“this mustardblooded trash doesnt knoww his place!”  
“eriidan ii2 completely eviil ii2 what we’re arguiing about!”  
Karkat groaned. He wasn’t really sure why he’d bothered asking; it was always basically the same stuff every single time. Nonetheless, he needed to keep his team from falling apart.  
Sollux moved around Karkat so that he could see Eridan, and concentrated as he glared at the highblood. As his eyes began to shoot their lasers, Karkat instinctively took several steps back, despite them not being aimed at him.  
And then a force tackled Sollux from the side.  
He lost focus instantly, his eyes returning to their regular states. He glanced upwards at the object pinning him down.  
“n-nepeta?” He gasped, surprised.  
Across the room, Eridan was on the floor as well, being kept there by Terezi. She and Nepeta had agreed that they would both interrupt at the same time, not allowing either of the feuding trolls to hurt the other.  
“dammiit, let me up!”  
“get the hell off me, ter!”  
“OH. UH, NICE WORK, GUYS.” Karkat said, surprised at the sudden intervention.  
“:33 < nyao purroblem, karkitty!”  
“MUCH 4S US1NG 3R1D4N 4S 4 COUCH 1S 1TS OWN R3W4RD, WH4T 3X4CTLY 4R3 W3 GONN4 DO W1TH TH3S3 TWO TO STOP TH3M F1GHT1NG?”  
“IT’S LESS THAT THEY NEED TO STOP FOREVER, AND MORE THAT THEY NEED TO STOP UNTIL, YOU KNOW, WE’RE FUCKING SAFE. FOR NOW, THOUGH, LET’S JUST… CONFINE THEM TO THEIR RESPITEBLOCKS FOR THE NEXT DAY. VRISKA, CAN YOU TAKE THEM DOWN THERE?”  
The spider girl rolled her eyes. “Fiiiiiiiine.”  
Nepeta and Terezi got up off of Eridan and Sollux, just in time for Vriska to quite forcefully grab the latter two by their wrists and transportalise the three of them out of there.  
“THAT SHOULD BE SETTLED, THEN. ANY OF YOU FUCKERS TRY HURTING EACH OTHER AGAIN, I’LL GIVE YOU A WORSE PUNISHMENT.”  
The rest of the room indicated their acknowledgement, and went back to what they were doing. Karkat walked over to Nepeta.  
“HEY. THAT WAS PRETTY BRAVE, WHAT YOU DID BACK THERE.”  
“:33 < terezi and i dont like to s33 people fight!”  
Karkat looks at her. She’s the same Nepeta as always, with the cute catlike personality and the high voice, but he realises now that… maybe he underestimated her. Sure, they’d all fought monsters in Sgrub, but she’d had Equius with her pretty much the entire time in the game. It took a certain kind of bravery to interfere with two of your extremely powerful friends attempting to kill each other.  
“YEAH. SEE YOU. I WANT TO HAVE A WORD WITH FEFERI.”  
“:33 < bye!”  
The troll made his way over to the fish girl, who was standing near the horn pile awkwardly, unsure what to do while Sollux was gone. Karkat approached.  
“HEY, FEFERI.”  
“Oh ) (i Karkat…”  
He noticed her disturbing lack of fish pun in his name, and figured she was probably sad about not being able to see Sollux for a little while.  
“WHAT EXACTLY WAS IT THAT THOSE TWO WERE ARGUING ABOUT, ANYWAYS?”  
“-Eridan was going to leave and seek out the weird Jack Noir."  
“IS HE FUCKING CRAZY? HE DOESN’T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST THAT THING!”  
“T) (at’s w) (at I said! But t) (en ) (e said ) (e wasn’t going to fight ) (im.”  
“HUH?”  
“) (e was going to join Jack Noir!”  
“WHAT THE FUCK? SO HE REALLY IS FUCKING INSANE!”  
Karkat turned away, rubbing his face. “HE’S GONNA TRY HARDER AFTER WHAT JUST HAPPENED. SOMEONE NEEDS TO KEEP AN EYE ON HIM.”  
“I can do it!” Feferi said.  
Karkat shook his head. “YOU’VE TRIED HARDER THAN ANYONE TO STOP HIM FROM BEING LIKE THIS. HE SHOULDN’T BE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY ANY LONGER.”  
“W) (o’s going to watc) ( ) (im t) (en?”  
“HM…” He considered his options. Kanaya would just chainsaw Eridan to death the moment he made a single step outside. Nepeta was too nice. Vriska couldn’t be fully trusted. Equius would treat him too well. Gamzee was too unstable, Tavros too shy…  
“HEY! TEREZI!” Karkat called.  
The girl turned her head towards him. “Y3S? WH4T DO YOU W4NT NOW?”  
“CAN YOU COME OVER HERE? I NEED TO HAVE A WORD WITH YOU.”  
“1 WOULD, BUT 1’M H4V1NG 4 V3RY 1MPORT4NT CONV3RS4T1ON W1TH 4 V3RY 1MPORT4NT COOLK1D."  
Karkat rolled his eyes. "YEAH, I KNOW YOU’RE TALKING TO THE DAVE HUMAN, BUT THIS IS A LOT MORE USEFUL THAN THAT. I’M YOUR LEADER, NOW GET OVER HERE.”  
She sighed and tapped out a couple of messages to Dave before getting up from her chair and walking over. “”  
“FEFERI TOLD ME THAT THE WHOLE REASON THOSE TWO WERE FIGHTING IS BECAUSE ERIDAN WAS PLANNING TO FIND JACK NOIR AND JOIN HIM.”  
“JO1N H1M? WOW.”  
“WHAT JUST HAPPENED WILL ONLY HAVE STRENGTHENED HIS RESOLVE TO DO THAT. SOMEONE NEEDS TO KEEP AN EYE ON HIM.”  
“YOU W4NT M3 TO G1V3 UP V4LU4BL3 T1M3 TO W4TCH TH3 WORST TROLL ON TH1S M3T3OR?”  
“YES. IT FITS INTO YOUR WHOLE JUSTICE THING, DOESN’T IT? ALSO, WE COULD ALL DIE IF YOU DO NOT DO THIS.”  
“...4LR1GHT, F1N3.”  
“THANKS, TEREZI.”  
She left, and Karkat started walking back to his place.


	5. Chapter 5

"Well hey there."  
Terezi grimaced. She'd forgotten that Vriska would be here too.  
“H1,” she said, in a noticeably sharp tone.  
“Aww, come on, there’s no need to 8e like that! Anyway, why are you down here? Did our leader send you for these two?"  
“4PP4R3NTLY I’M SUPPOSED TO W4TCH 3R1D4N SO TH4T H3 C4N’T 3SC4P3 4ND JO1N J4CK NO1R.”  
“W8, what?”  
“K4RK4T TOLD M3 TH4T F3F3R1 TOLD H1M TH4T 3R1D4N TOLD H3R TH4T H3 W4S GO1NG TO 4B4NDON US, 4ND 4TT3MPT TO 4LLY W1TH TH3 D3MON 1NST34D.”  
“Wow. That’s… even more pathetic than I would expect from him.”  
“1 KNOW, R1GHT.”  
A buzzing noise sounded out from Vriska’s pocket. She reached in and pulled out her palmhusk.  
Terezi made one of those :? faces. “HOW 1S JOHN M3SS4G1NG YOU? 1 THOUGHT MOB1L3 TROLL14N COULDN’T COMMUN1C4T3 4CROSS UN1V3RS3S.”  
“It can’t...“ Vriska replied, puzzled as well. She flicked on the screen, and after taking a second to read the text, nodded in understanding. “Ohhhhhhhh, right.”  
“WHO 1S TH4T? WHY C4N’T TH3Y JUST COM3 4ND T4LK TO YOU D1R3CTLY?”  
“Well, he said he wanted to 8e discreet a8out this.”  
“WHO?”  
“Oh, don’t 8other asking. You won’t guess.”  
“OOH, 1S 1T 4 QU4DR4NT CRUSH?”  
“Ew, no. Imagine 8eing in that guy’s quadrants. No idea what Nepeta sees.”  
“SO 1T’S K4RK4T.”  
“Fuck’s sake,” Vriska muttered. “Yeah. Anyway, shut up. I’m texting.”  
Terezi rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall. Vriska sat down on the floor against the opposite wall of the hallway, clearly very focused on whatever the fuck required Karkat, the noisiest member of their group, to be quiet.  
Someone knocked on one of the doors. “UGH,” Terezi said. “WH4T TH3 FUCK DO YOU W4NT, 3R1D4N?”  
“listen up ter,” he said, his voice muffled through the wall, “i outrank you so heres wwhat i wwant you to—”  
“Shut up, fish8oy.” Vriska said. “This is what you get when you put your friends in danger.”  
Terezi was about to point out how hypocritical that was, but she kept her mouth shut.  
Eridan didn’t, however. “wwell thats rich coming from you. im still royalty so if i leavve you twwo cant stop me”  
From the room opposite, Sollux yelled out, “alterniia’2 gone now, iidiiot. the ca2tes mean nothiing!”  
While most of the others’ transportalisers led directly to their rooms, a slight lack of space meant that some led to hallways with those trolls’ quarters behind doors. Eridan and Sollux were one such example. Unfortunately.  
“you wwish that wwere the case, lowwblood!” Eridan shouted back  
Vriska and Terezi glanced at each other with a look approximating resigned exasperation. Then the spider girl just sighed and went back to her palmhusk.

Karkat sat back down and opened up his husktop. First, he messaged Vriska’s palmhusk.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling arachnidsGrip [AG]

CG: HEY.  
AG: Hello Karkat.  
AG: I see you’re keeping with the secrecy here.  
CG: WHAT’S GOING ON DOWN THERE, ANYWAY?  
AG: Well, Terezi’s here, and 8eing annoying.  
AG: Not nearly as annoying as the other two, though.  
AG: Who’s stupid idea was it to put their rooms in the same hallway?  
CG: I THINK THEY WERE THE LAST TWO TO PICK A ROOM IN THE METEOR.  
CG: SO THEY AUTOMATICALLY GOT SHOVED THERE.  
AG: Ughhhhhhhh.  
AG: Let’s just get 8ack to the fucking roleplay.

arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

Both of them switched back to the group chat.

CG: ALRIGHT, I’M BACK.  
AC: :33 < hi karkitty!  
AG: Let’s get 8ack to doing this.  
AG: Eridan and Sollux are driving me and Terezi up the fucking wall.  
AC: :33 < ok!

CG finally arrived at the top floor of the temple, AC with him. He slumped against a wall, breathing heavily.  
“THAT… WAS TIRING…” he said.  
AC rubbed up against his side, and CG reached over and pet her. After a moment or two of this, he withdrew his hand and placed both on the floor, pushing himself up off of the ground.  
“WE CAN’T LET THEM GET THE AMULET,” he said, taking off at a sprint. AC ran alongside him.  
As they stepped through the doorway, they took a moment to survey the room around them. Though it was bright outside, none of the sunlight had filtered through, despite the enormous windows on either side. Instead, through the glass, they could see a starscape, as if outside this very room was the expanse of space. Somehow, lines of light were arranged in intricate patterns around the room, switching through a variety of colours and shades at a rather soothing pace. They were standing on a bridge that stretched to the other end of the room. Beneath it was a dark void. And in the centre was the amulet, floating high above head height.  
“HOW… HOW CAN THIS EXIST?” CG whispered as they walked, his voice hushed by the mystery of the room around him. “IT DEFIES ALL WE’VE SEEN OF THE TEMPLE SO FAR.”  
“:33 < it must be magic!”  
“I GUESS.”  
It was then that they both noticed who was standing at the other side of the room: the group of 8 lowbloods they’d seen earlier.  
That group noticed CG and AC as well. “Stop trying,” they said, again in perfect unison. “She may 8e una8le to control you here, but we outnumb8er you heavily. You stand no chance.”  
“WAIT. HOW ARE YOU BEING CONTROLLED IF SHE CAN’T DO THAT TO US?”  
“The room’s magic dampens her powers. She can’t control any more than eight minds. 8ut we will defeat you nonetheless.”  
“BUT CONTROLLING EIGHT TROLLS AT ONCE TO DO DIFFERENT THINGS MUST BE VERY HARD. AT LEAST WE CAN THINK FOR OURSELVES IN A FIGHT.”  
“Is that a challenge?”  
CG drew his sickle.  
“ABSOLUTELY, FUCKASS.”

Across the room from where Nepeta was invested in all of that, Feferi was sat on a desk, staring at where Aradiabot had stood less than two hours before. She had no idea why Aradia self-destructed so suddenly. It didn’t make any sense, to be given a chance to recover from death and kill yourself a day after taking it. Then again, Aradia had always been a mysterious girl. She must have had her reasons.  
Thinking about Aradia being dead made Feferi sad. She’d had so many plans for when she got the throne. Helping lowbloods was the very first of her objectives. But she clearly couldn’t even help just one. And with the rest of Alternia dead too, she was doing her job… terribly. And to add that to nearly getting Sollux and possibly Eridan killed, she might honestly be more of a liability.  
She put aside that train of thought and turned away from the scorched bit of floor from the explosion. It wasn’t any use to dwell on these things. She had to look to the future and try to help her friends as much as possible from now on.  
“hEY,”  
She turned, and saw Tavros standing there. He was still slightly shaky due to recently having his legs removed and replaced with robotic ones.  
“sORRY, i’M STILL SLIGHTLY SHAKY, dUE TO RECENTLY, HAVING MY LEGS REMOVED, aND REPLACED WITH ROBOTIC ONES,”  
“It’s fine! W) (at’s up?”  
“nOT MUCH, REALLY, jUST KIND OF BORED,”  
“Aren’t you going to troll those ) (umans like Karcrab said?”  
“i WAS GOING TO, BUT vRISKA,, sHE TOLD ME I WAS BAD AT IT, sO I STOPPED, hOW ARE YOU”  
“O) (, I’m fine! Yea) (...”  
Tavros could detect that she was not entirely fine.  
“aRE YOU SURE, bECAUSE IT SOUNDS TO ME, LIKE yOU AREN’T,,”  
“Well, it’s just… I was t) (inking about Aradia. And w) (at s) (e did.”  
He nodded. “yOU MEAN, kILLING HERSELF”  
“-Exactly. I don’t know w) (y s) (e would do t) (at.”  
“tHE WAY i SEE IT, SHE MIGHT HAVE DONE IT TO, uH, aVOID DYING TO THE MONSTER THING, bECAUSE THAT, WOULD HURT MORE”  
“But t) (en ) (ow could s) (e be shore t) (at s) (e would ) (ave died anyway?”  
“wELL, SHE’S A TIME PLAYER, rIGHT?”  
“Yea) (...”  
“mAYBE SHE USED HER, uM, TIMEY ABILITIES, aND KNEW, SHE MIGHT HAVE DIED,”  
“I… you’re rig) (t, t) (at does kind of make sense.”  
“wHO KNOWS, MAYBE SHE’S ACTUALLY SOMEHOW ALIVE, oR SOMETHING, i DON’T KNOW”  
“I suppose it’s possible.” She turned to him and gave him a smile. “T) (ank you, Tavros. T) (at ) (elped.”  
“uHH, nO PROBLEM FEFERI,,” He felt a bit awkward because of the compliment. Feferi guessed he didn’t get thanked for things often.  
After he walked away, Feferi went and sat down at her computer. She figured she may as well chat to one of the humans, see how far they’d gotten. But which one? Feferi considered for a moment. Vriska was probably already talking to John, Rose and Kanaya practically never left the conversation, Jade hadn’t been talking to Feferi for some reason. So that meant that Dave was the only one who she could chat to at the moment. Alright then, time to—  
All of a sudden, a message popped up on Feferi’s Trollian. She clicked on it.

apocalypseArisen [AA] began trolling cuttlefishCuller [CC]

AA: hey


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> imagine updating a fanfic

CC: Aradia??  
CC: ) (ow are you alive?  
AA: well  
AA: you remember when your dream self died  
CC: Yea) (?  
AA: well a moment after that  
AA: jack noir destroyed derse  
AA: and my other self was on the sacrificial slab so i godtiered  
AA: which destroyed my robot :)  
CC: Wow, t) (at’s krilliant!  
AA: dont tell the others yet though  
AA: they dont need more on their minds  
AA: also you know what equius is like  
CC: Wait, w) (at ) (appened to your quirk?  
AA: not in the mood anymore  
CC: ...Fair enoug) (.  
CC: So w) (en will you be coming back ) (ere?  
AA: cant  
AA: not for a while  
CC: Aw, ok.  
CC: I can’t wait until you do though!  
AA: :)

“VR1SK4?” Terezi asked, deliberately breaking the spider girl’s concentration.  
“Ugh! What!” Vriska said back, irritated.  
“W3R3 YOU S3R1OUSLY 4BOUT TO DO TH4T?”  
“Do fucking what?”  
“DON’T PL4Y DUMB, 1 S4W YOU W3R3 4BOUT TO CONTROL H1M.”  
She laughed out loud. “Control him? Why on Alternia would I want to control that idiot?”  
“1 S4W YOU DO1NG THOS3 W31RD G3STUR3S YOU DO WH3N YOU TRY TO CONTROL SOM3ON3. WH4T 4R3 YOU TWO 3V3N T3XT1NG 4BOUT?”  
“May8e it’s none of your F8CKING 8USINESS, 8lind girl!”  
Terezi snickered to herself about getting a rise out of Vriska, then took out her palmhusk. Eridan and Sollux had fallen silent, probably having some lame argument over Trollian, so now she was actually able to focus enough to text.  
She messaged Karkat.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

GC: WH4T 4R3 YOU DO1NG K4RK4T  
CG: HUH?  
CG: THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING”.  
GC: 1 DONT KNOW WH4T YOUR3 DO1NG BUT CL34RLY 1TS 1MPORT4NT 3NOUGH FOR H3R TO CONTROL YOU OV3R 1T.  
CG: WAIT.  
CG: SHE TRIED TO FUCKING CONTROL ME?  
GC: Y34H  
GC: SH3 D1D TH4T TH1NG SH3 DO3S TH4T SH3 TH1NKS 1S SUBTL3 BUT R34LLY 1SNT  
CG: THOSE WEIRD GESTURES?  
GC: YEP  
CG: MAN.  
CG: I KNEW I SHOULDN’T HAVE FUCKING TRUSTED HER.  
GC: WH4T 4R3 YOU TWO 3V3N M3SS4G1NG 4BOUT 4NYW4Y  
CG: NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS.  
GC: OOH  
GC: 1S 1T 4 QU4DR4NT TH1NG TH3N >:]  
CG: EW, NO.  
CG: IMAGINE BEING IN THAT BITCH’S QUADRANTS.  
CG: NO IDEA WHAT KANAYA USED TO SEE.  
CG: ANYWAY, GUESS I HAVE TO GO TALK TO NEPETA NOW, TALK TO HER ABOUT BANNING VRISKA.  
CG: LATER.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]

So Nepeta was involved… Terezi pondered this for a moment, then decided to talk to her. Surely the friendly catgirl would reveal the mystery.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

GC: *TH3 M1GHTY DR4GON SWOOPS DOWN 4ND L4NDS B3FOR3 TH3 K1TT3NS C4V3RN W1TH 4 M1GHTY RO4R*  
GC: *1T TH3N R41S3S 4 FOOT 4ND T4PS 4 S1NGL3 CL4W 4G41NST TH3 3NTR4NC3*  
AC: :33 < *the kitten comes to the entrance, still licking off the blood from her latest kill*  
GC: OK C4N W3 CUT TH3 BULLSH1T TH1S T1M3  
AC: :(( < ok...  
GC: 1, T3R3Z1 PYROP3 TH3 D3T3CT1V3, H4V3 SOM3 QU3ST1ONS FOR YOU  
AC: :3O < has something bad hapurrned?  
GC: NO  
GC: 1 JUST L1K3 TH3 D3T3CT1V3 TH1NG OK  
GC: F1RST:  
GC: WH4T 4R3 YOU, K4RK4T, 4ND VR1SK4 T3XT1NG 4BOUT  
AC: :33 < oh!  
AC: :33 < well, um…  
AC: :33 < he made me purrmise not to tell…  
GC: C4R3FUL, L31JON  
GC: 1F YOU DONT 4NSW3R 1 M1GHT JUST H4V3 TO TURN FROM GOOD COP TO B4D COP  
AC: :33 < wait a meowment, karkitty’s mewssaging me!  
GC: 4LR1GHT, BUT DONT K33P M3 W41T1NG

gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

Nepeta switched to Karkat’s messages. He’d already sent quite a few— clearly he felt this was something important.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling arsenicCatnip [AC]

CG: NEPETA.  
CG: COME ON, THIS IS IMPORTANT.  
CG: ANSWER FOR FUCK’S SAKE, IT’S ABOUT VRISKA.  
CG: NEPETA.  
CG: SHE TRIED TO FUCKING CONTROL ME, NEPETA.  
AC: :3O < really??  
CG: YEAH.  
CG: SHE COULDN’T EVEN HANDLE THE CHANCE OF LOSING A SINGLE BATTLE.  
CG: GOD, SHE’S PATHETIC.  
AC: :33 < ooh ok  
CG: WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN— OH MY GOD, NEPETA, IT’S NOT FUCKING LIKE THAT.  
CG: I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD, IF YOU ADD THAT TO YOUR CREEPY SHIPPING GRID, I’LL END THIS _DUMB FUCKING ROLEPLAY THING_ RIGHT NOW.  
AC: :3( < sorry…  
AC: :3( < how do you know she tried to control you?  
CG: TEREZI TOLD ME.  
CG: I KNOW THAT NORMALLY TEREZI JUST LIKES TRICKING PEOPLE, BUT IT MAKES TOO MUCH SENSE THAT VRISKA WOULD DO THAT.  
CG: SHE’S THE SECOND MOST PRIDEFUL BITCH ON THIS METEOR, OF COURSE SHE ISN’T GONNA LET HERSELF LOSE A BATTLE TO PEOPLE LIKE US.  
CG: EVEN IF IT IS IN A ROLEPLAY SCENARIO.  
CG: LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE TO FUCKING BAN HER NOW.  
AC: :(( < okay…  
CG: OH, ALSO, UM.  
CG: I’M SORRY I CALLED THE ROLEPLAY DUMB.  
CG: IT’S BEEN FUN.  
CG: I’M JUST STRESSED, IS ALL.  
AC: :33 < its ok karkitty!  
AC: :33 < i furgive you :3

arsenicCatnip [AC] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

Terezi wasn’t really surprised that Nepeta had forgotten to get back to her. It was a little irritating, but no big deal.  
She looked up from her palmhusk at Vriska. She was sitting on the floor, absentmindedly crushing an 8-ball against the ground beneath her.  
“TH3Y’R3 GO1NG TO B4N YOU, YOU KNOW.”  
Vriska looked up at her, then snorted. “How the hell would you know?”  
“K4RK4T TOLD M3 4FT3R 1 TOLD H1M WH4T YOU TR13D TO DO.”  
“Seriously? You fucking TOLD HIM?”  
“Y3P.”  
Vriska took a couple of deep breaths. “I can’t fucking 8elieve this… you know what? You wanted to know what the hell we were doing, right?”  
Terezi nodded.  
“Well, if he’s kicking me out, I guess I don’t have to keep it secret anymore.” She shrugged. “It’s just a roleplay thing.”  
“W41T,” Terezi replied, “TH4TS IT?”  
“Yep,” Vriska said. “I spotted him and Nepeta were doing it, I asked if I could join. That’s really all there is to it.”  
“WHY TH3 H3LL W4S K4RK4T SO F1X4T3D ON K33P1NG 1T S3CR3T TH3N? B3S1D3S, 1 THOUGHT H3 H4T3D ROL3PL4Y1NG.”  
“That’s exactly why. He thought it would damage his reput8ion or something.”  
“WOW. L4M3.”  
“Yeah.” She stood up. “”  
“UH, BY3.”  
As Vriska left, Terezi looked back down at her palmhusk, before sending a message to Karkat.

gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

GC: K4RK4T  
CG: WHAT NOW.  
GC: C4N 1 JO1N TH3 ROL3PL4Y  
CG: WAIT WHAT  
CG: HOW THE FUCK DO YOU EVEN KNOW WE’RE DOING THAT  
CG: OH MY GOD  
GC: VR1SK4 TOLD M3 WH3N SH3 FOUND OUT SH3 W4S GONN4 G3T B4NN3D  
CG: OF COURSE SHE FUCKING DID.  
CG: ALRIGHT, FINE, YOU CAN JOIN.  
CG: BUT NO TELLING ANYONE ELSE.  
CG: ALRIGHT?  
GC: F11111111N3.  


carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]

carcinoGeneticist [CG] added gallowsCalibrator [GC] to the conversation

AC: :33 < uhh… hi, terezi?  
CG: VRISKA TOLD HER ABOUT THIS BEFORE SHE GOT BANNED.  
CG: TEREZI WANTED TO JOIN AND I SAID WHY NOT.  
AC: :33 < ohhhh  
AC: :33 < okay!  
AC: :3/ < did we really have to ban vriska though?  
CG: YES.  
CG: GODMODDING IS ALREADY A TABOO, AND SHE TRIED TO MIND CONTROL US INTO ALLOWING IT.  
CG: FUCK THAT.  
AC: :3/ < alright…

Dave jolted awake in a chair in his room. He lifted his head and looked around, reaching up to steady his shades on the bridge of his nose. Upon closer inspection of the area around him, he realised that he hadn’t just jolted awake; he’d done the exact opposite, as he was clearly on Derse.  
It took him a brief moment for him to remember what he’d been doing before he fell asleep. From what he could recall, he’d been collecting some grist after killing a giclops, then… nothing. That was all he could remember.  
He didn’t know why he’d fallen asleep, and he didn’t know how to wake up, so he just shrugged and left his tower.  
Outside, the sky was as pitch black as always, an enormous sheet of dark fabric stretched over the whole planet, colour varied in only miniscule amounts by the vague, gray forms of the eldritch beasts scattered amongst the Furthest Ring.  
As he floated aimlessly through the air, he began to hear something nearby. It was the sound of a struggle happening, a fight of some sort. Dave glanced around, looking for the source of the noise, before he pinpointed it coming from Rose’s tower.  
He flew over there fast. Through the window, he could see a large carapacian attacking Rose, who was trying to stab at him with her knitting needles. She was clearly losing the battle. He needed to do something.  
Dave darted forward and grabbed the carapacian’s neck, pulling him backwards with all his might. him fell backwards in surprise. Dave wasn’t able to keep him there for long, but it was just enough time for Rose to deal killing blow to the attacker.  
“so who the fuck was he then” Dave asked.  
“That,” Rose breathed, “was one of the Queen’s lackeys. I’m surprised she sent him after us so early, honestly, but at least it means he’s dead now."  
He nodded. “i guess random periods of unconsciousness work out sometimes.”  
“What do you mean?”  
“i fell asleep with literally no warning. that’s why i’m here.”  
“Hmm. Perhaps your future self was involved.”  
“maybe but i dont see why he woulda just knocked me out.”  
“Perhaps it was so that you could come and save me.”  
“guess i better put that on my to do list then. note to self: KO your past self.”  
A few minutes later, Dave woke up. The first thing he registered was his phone buzzing in his pocket.  
He took it out. There was a message from John. 

ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]

EB: dave.  
EB: there’s a big problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no i still cannot write any of these characters well sorry


End file.
